Carpentry Shop
by Selvanic
Summary: Various misadventures inspiried by my latest work place. Very AU. Very random. Rated M for future "Work Orders". Mostly 58/85
1. Work Order 1: Therapy

_HA! I live! Though I'm now living in Hinton so...yeah. Hence this set of random stories! I'm working at a pulp - in the carpentry shop - and I let my mind wander a lot. So here you go! This is what comes out._

_Note: A "lead hand" is someone who acts as a supervisor when the regular one is away and makes 6% more than the other workers. _

* * *

"I really don't know what to do. I mean, it's not like this is the first good looking contractor we've had on site and it's hardly going to be the last."

"...Hakkai?"

"He's not even all that special. He's just like all the rest. Young. Full of energy. Far too eager and far too full of himself. The only thing that really stands out is that hair and those eyes of his. Do you think they're contacts?"

"...Hakkai."

"Did you know he had the _gall_ to come in here yesterday and ask me if we had any girls working in the carpentry shop? Like this was some kind of dating service? Who does he think he is!"

"Hakkai!"

The brunet jumped slightly, blinking owlishly from behind his glasses at his clearly agitated coworker. Sanzo was always good for listening to him, but he didn't tend to ramble as he did now. And by the looks of things, he'd been going for a while; the blond was already finished his coffee.

"Look, Hakkai, you're our lead hand here. Don't let some cocky contractor get the best of you." Sanzo huffed and got to his feet, stretching out lazily as he did. "And next time you feel like going to someone for therapy, _don't_ come to me. I don't care if you're in a higher position than me, I'll walk away next time."

Hakkai laughed sheepishly, shrugging one shoulder and carefully getting up from his own chair. "I suppose you're right. He's going to be gone in two weeks anyway. Nothing to worry about."

"Sure. Whatever. Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta take the monkey scaffolding."

"Oh. Have fun with that. Are you working over the boilers again?" Hakkai moved their coffee cups over to the lunchroom sink, leaving them there to be washed on his next break.

Sanzo frowned heavily, checking the front pocket of his coveralls absently to make sure he still had a full supply of cigarettes. "Yeah. I still don't know how the kid can have that much energy up there. It's a fucking sauna."

Chuckling softly, the brunet shook his head and gestured to the door. "The sooner you go, the sooner you finish, as our supervisor would say."

The mention of Kanzeon brought a heavy frown to the blond's face, as well as several less than pleasant names murmured under his breath. He offered a short wave before slipping into the main shop, waving Goku down from where the younger man was sweeping. The boy perked up like a dog who's master had come home, dropping the broom and bounding over to Sanzo's side. It was cute to see them working together. And they were the best scaffolding team that the mill had seen in a while.

Watching them go, Hakkai sighed and turned to look at the stack of quarter inch four-by-eight plywood that had just been brought in. He had to cut it into more reasonable sizes for Sanzo's upcoming scaffold projects. Well...at least it was a way to spend time. And a way to get his mind off of a certain redhead who'd come waltzing into his life without any invitation.

Unbeknownst and unfortunately for him, life had a very different plan for him.


	2. Work Order 2: Collaborate

_What? Two chapters in one night? IS SHE CRAZY? Yes. Yes I am. And I figured I might as well get this started properly. And yes, this layout is very much in my head. Also, for those who don't know, journeymen are the only scaffolders who can certify that a scaffold is safe for use. You need 'em around. _

* * *

Work Order 2: Collaborate

Fridays were always a little dull. Being in charge of the shop when it was only himself, Sanzo, Goku, Kougaiji, and Jiroshin – sometimes he swore Kanzeon only made him lead hand to get on the older man's nerves – was always easy and made days...longer than they should have been. More often than not, Hakkai found himself dealing with menial tasks simply to pass the time. As it stood now, he was cutting two-by-four planks into foot long pieces on his radial saw, aiming to cut each piece into wedges later on. With all of the trailers coming in for contractors, it never paid to have too many doorstops.

However, with the shop as quiet as it was – Sanzo and Goku had taken Kougaiji to help with one of the larger scaffolds and Jiroshin was in the paint shop working on signs – Hakkai found it easy to lose himself in his work. Which meant that it was fairly easy for people to sneak up on him; a feat that was usually impossible.

"You've got some pretty steady hands there."

The brunet almost jumped out of his skin, instead knocking one of his planks back and getting the saw blade caught in a knot. He frowned slightly and shook his head, turning the power off and settling on just leaving it for now. He had an intruder to deal with. Pulling his earmuffs off and hanging them around his neck, he turned to stare down the person who'd walked in. Which proved to be harder than he'd have liked, considering it was a certain contractor with some of the most captivating eyes he'd ever seen.

Nevertheless, he managed to collect himself. "If you're here about the chute, I've already had it delivered. Your supervisor should have told you that." There; that was a good, neutral, all-business answer.

The contractor laughed and smiled crookedly, the grin fitting the man's face far too well. "Nope, didn't come for that," he replied offhandedly, giving Hakkai a quick once over. "I came for some help."

Hakkai arched an eyebrow. "Help? Isn't that what we hired you for?"

"Yeah, well, that only works if everyone you hired is actually here." The redhead shrugged offhandedly, stepping past Hakkai to work the piece of two-by-four off of the saw. It was hard not to find oneself fascinated by just how well the man's long fingers seemed to manipulate everything.

Shaking his head a bit and forcibly tearing his thoughts away from what he thought those fingers could do, Hakkai looked at the other man's face – only slightly better, given the fact that hardhats made _no one_ attractive – and kept his voice as neutral as possible; "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means my scaffolding partner didn't come in today because he had a 'family emergency'. So I thought I'd stop by the carpentry shop to see if you had anyone you could spare."

Hakkai had a sinking feeling that life hated him; there was no one working that was available to help this man save himself. He was a certified journeyman scaffolder, though he'd gone into carpentry first. Maybe the fact that he was certified in both had to do with his position...Well, that wasn't important.

"I suppose I could offer you my own assistance." It was really the only honest answer he had. Though why he couldn't bring himself to lie to this man was beyond him.

The contractor grinned again and nodded shortly. "Awesome. My name's Sha Gojyo. I'm in charge of scaffolding on the fourth through eighth floors of the power house."

Hakkai stared at the hand he was offered as if it was going to bite him. This...probably didn't bode well. Still, manners dictated that he at least return the gesture, and he caught Gojyo's hand in a firm handshake. For once, he was grateful for the leather work gloves he had to wear. "Cho Hakkai. I'm the lead hand of the carpentry shop."

"Oh, lucky me~." Gojyo chuckled and nodded towards the door. "Shall we then, Mr. Lead Hand?"

The brunet couldn't help but smile, though he knew immediately that he'd hate himself for it later. The brief flash of _something_ he saw in the other's eyes told him that much. And yet he still followed along, stepping through the heavy door of the carpentry shop and crossing the railroad tracks to the contractor station. He had his phone on him...If anything came up, he'd leave. It wasn't like Gojyo was his priority now. He just...had nothing better to do. Yes. That was it...


	3. Work Order 3: Supplies

_Wow. Three chapters already. I guess it helps that they're as short as they are. Haha. And this is actually surprisingly more coherent than I thought it'd be when I first started. Amazing how stories take on their own minds like that. Anyway, I don't think there's any particular vocabulary in here that needs defining. Other than scaffolding supplies, but if you _really_ want to know, I'm sure you can look it up. _

* * *

Work Order 3: Supplies

It was easy to forget just how loud some of the more out of the way places could be. But at ninety-two decibels, it was decidedly louder than most of the places Hakkai found himself working. With his hardhat and earmuffs in place, his coveralls zipped up and his gloves pulled on tightly, he felt...genuinely useful. Which was a first for a Friday. The only problem with working in this environment, however, was how close one had to get to one's working partner if only to be heard. Gojyo admittedly joked less when they were on the job, but it hardly fixed the strictly hormonal problem at hand.

"We're going to need more right angles."

Hakkai wanted to kick himself. This was the second time that Gojyo had managed to catch him off guard in the same day – the same hour even – , a feat that hadn't been accomplished since he was significantly younger than he was. To make things worse, because of how loud the area was, the redhead had to be quite close to be heard in the first place. And as Hakkai had been rummaging through one of the large carts of right angles, getting close meant that the contractor was all but flush against his back, hands on either side of Hakkai's waist to keep the man balanced. And it made him decidedly uncomfortable; did Gojyo have _no_ sense of personal space?

Shifting enough so that he not-so-accidentally elbowed the redhead in the ribs, Hakkai managed to slip away and put some distance between them as Gojyo staggered back a bit. He offered an apologetic smile with thinly veiled cynicism and gestured over his shoulder, mouthing the words that he was going to check another station. The contractor was clearly thick in the head, though, as he flashed an understanding grin and mouthed back that he'd be coming along. Fantastic.

Walking through the various twisting and oversized hallways wasn't too much of an issue, really. Gojyo stayed relatively close, though tailed Hakkai more than anything as the redhead wasn't exactly sure of the location of any of the scaffolding stations. They reached the next nearest one without any problems – though they'd paused several times so Gojyo could speak to other contractors, Hakkai not much caring for socializing while on the clock – and retrieved several things that weren't at the first. The only problem that presented itself was whether they could carry everything by hand, or if they would need to use the cart.

Hakkai weighed their options and decided that the cart would be more of a waste than anything; they'd have to bring it back after all. He sighed softly and took two screw jacks in one hand, tucking two of the poles under his other arm and picking up the bucket of right angles. He left the extra ledgers to Gojyo, who he suddenly found staring at him. He wasn't sure what to make of it really; he hadn't seen the expression on the redhead's face before. And it was gone almost as quickly as it had appeared.

Without picking anything up, the contractor stepped in and said, "I'm impressed. You don't look like you'd be able to carry that much."

The brunet wasn't sure if he was offended or not. And so he chose not to respond, shaking his head a bit and stepping around Gojyo to make his way back down to where they'd started. Still, as he walked, he couldn't help but feel that the other man's eyes were trained on him more than before. And it was a touch unnerving. It almost felt as if...he was being stalked by a very hungry predator.


End file.
